All for You
by Constable Remington
Summary: Ron DeLite doesn't steal because he wants to. He steals because he has to. And it seems no matter where he goes or what he does, someone is watching him do it...


Desiree DeLite's birthday was coming up.

The rush to plan a good party was pretty hectic. Ron was afraid that if he stopped to look around, everything would whirl by and leave him behind, dazed and dizzy. Instead, he kept close by Dessie's best friend, Tulip (a foreign woman from Desiree's work), nodding numbly at every suggestion the woman made. The expenses piled up pretty quickly -- renting a room at the hotel conference center for the party, caterers, someone to make the cake, a live band, and gift after gift after gift. Dessie must have told Tulip that Ron's pockets were practically bottomless, and while Ron certainly wanted to make Dessie's birthday wonderful, the amount of money he was throwing around was really starting to make him feel ill.

There would be so much more to go around if only he could sell the things he stole himself! The money he got from his Ace "Friend" was substandard at best, not even half, not even a _quarter_ of what Ron could make on the black market for the priceless items he stole.

It wasn't as if he had a choice, though.

Riding the bus down to the department store to pick up one of Dessie's gifts (a lovely pair of leather riding boots), Ron noticed a young man dressed in a business suit holding a suitcase. He was wearing glasses and staring pointedly straight ahead, out the front of the bus. Due to how full the bus was, Ron was crammed up behind him, a fat woman with her five children behind. It was claustrophobic at best, and with the way the bus moved against the bumpy road, the people in the bus kept bumping into each other. Ron had almost found himself on the floor at one point, thanks to the fat woman and her bulk. Ron was stick-like at best.

The business man's wallet was poking out of his back pocket, and Ron stared down at it, calculating the possibility there was cash in the wallet in his head. If there was, it wasn't likely to be very much. The man looked rather sensible -- and Ron wasn't stupid enough to use stolen credit cards. Too much of a trace!

But the chance to steal without being detected, without having someone breathing down his neck for his cut -- it was thrilling.

Before Ron could even completely think it over, the bus hit another bump, the fat woman shoved Ron forward into the business man, and Ron's hand reached forward, snatching the leather wallet and shoving it into his own pocket. The business man stumbled from the shove, but did not turn to look back at Ron or the fat woman -- only tightened his grip on the pole.

A thick sort of glee filled Ron as the bus came to a stop right in front of the downtown mall. Forcing his way out of the crowded bus, Ron was quick to get inside before pulling out the wallet, peeking inside.

A couple hundred dollar bills looked back up at him, and Ron felt his stomach burst with pride and joy at the sight. Maybe he'd buy something else nice for Dessie, too, with the money. After all, Dessie meant everything to him -- and this whole thief business had started because of her. If he used the money for anything else, wouldn't that be changing all of his ideals?

As he wandered through the department store, looking for something his wife would like, Ron sighed in content. Having Dessie with him was the best gift he could ever have, so he hoped she didn't worry about going to any kind of trouble like this for his birthday, months away as it was. Desiree was the only family he had. He didn't need anything else.

As the party approached, more and more cards rolled in for Dessie -- from friends, family, long-lost acquaintances. It seemed to Ron that almost everyone in the world wanted to wish his wife a happy birthday. He was carrying in a fat stack of mail, sorting through it as he climbed the stairs and slipped back into their apartment on the day of the party, only hours before. Desiree was in the bathroom, primping her hair.

"Anything for me?" she called as the front door closed.

"Only about a hundred thousand cards from people I've never heard of," Ron murmured. "I'll leave them here on the counter if that's alright with you."

"Go ahead."

Ron flipped through card after card, but his fingers stopped suddenly upon seeing a light green envelope amongst them. He slowly picked it out from the bunch. Sure enough, it was addressed to him.

Setting the rest of the cards down on the kitchen counter, Ron quickly opened the envelope, sliding the small piece of paper out and reading carefully.

There were seven words on it, and no more.

"I hope you saved some for me."

Ron's face slowly got hotter and hotter, his cheeks flushing as the words dawned on him. He must have read the message fifty times by the time he finally crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash.

How!? How had his blackmailer seen him steal the wallet!? The only way he could have was... if he had been on the bus. Ron quickly ran through each face he saw that day, but everything was a blur. He could only remember the back of the business man's head and the fat woman behind him. If someone had been watching him, Ron had never even noticed.

This business was beginning to cripple him.

"Ronniekins!" Dessie cried from the bathroom. "Come here and see what you think of my dress. We have to get you dressed too, you know!"

Quickly called back to reality by Desiree's voice, Ron glanced up. Desiree sounded so happy.

It must be worth it, he thought, if he could keep Dessie happy. Even under the threats from others, even under watchful eyes...

As long as he kept their family together with the money he stole, it was worth every threatening word he could imagine.


End file.
